40,000-year-old bracelet made by extinct human species found

In what is quite an amazing discovery, scientists have confirmed that
a bracelet found in Siberia is 40,000 years old. This makes it the
oldest piece of jewelry ever discovered, and archeologists have been
taken aback by the level of its sophistication.
The bracelet was discovered in a site called the Denisova Cave in
Siberia, close to Russia’s border with China and Mongolia. It was found
next to the bones of extinct animals, such as the wooly mammoth, and
other artifacts dating back 125,000 years.
The cave is named after the Denisovan people — a mysterious species
of hominins from the Homo genus, who are genetically different from both
Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.

We know that the Denisovans migrated out of Africa sometime after the
first wave of Homo erectus, and well before us, Homo sapiens.
The Denisovans were unique in many ways, having branched away from
other humanoid ancestors some 1 million years ago. Indeed, the recent
discovery of a female Denisovan finger bone and various teeth shows that
they had no morphological similarities to either Neanderthals or modern
humans.
However, tens of thousands of years later, and prior to becoming
extinct, they did coexist with us and the Neanderthals for a period, and
skeletal remains of hybrids, and genetic studies confirm that they also
mated with our forebears and the Neanderthals.
Strangely, however, DNA evidence also suggests that, at some point,
the Denisovans must have interbred with an as yet unknown and
undiscovered species of humans beings.
Skeletal remains show that the Denisovans were probably far more
robust and powerful than modern humans, and were, until now, assumed to
be a more primitive, archaic type of humans than us.
But, the discovery of the bracelet suggests this was far from true.
Amazingly, the skill involved in making this adornment shows a level of
technique at least 30,000 years ahead of its time.
Until now, scientists had believed that such skills had only evolved
among humans in the Neolithic period, which began at about 10,000 BC.
Indeed, originally, they believed that the bracelet had somehow become
mixed up with materials dating from a later period.
However, experiments have now definitely ruled that out, and they
confirm that it could not have been made by homo sapiens or
Neanderthals. After 7 years of analysis, the scientists are confident
that the piece was made 30,000 years before the beginning of the Stone
Age.

General reconstruction of the view of the bracelet and compraison with the moders bracelet

Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov, Anastasia Abdulmanova Located next to the Anuy River, about

The Daily Mail
quotes the head of the Museum of History and Culture of the Peoples’ of
Siberia and the Far East in the city of Novosibirsk, Dr Anatoly
Derevyanko, who said:
“The skills of its creator were perfect. Initially we thought that it
was made by Neanderthals or modern humans, but it turned out that the
master was Denisovan.”
Mikhail Shunkov, deputy director of the the Institute of Archaeology
and Ethnography in Novosibirsk, part of the Siberian Branch of the
Russian Academy of Sciences, suggested that the find indicates that the
Denisovans were more advanced than Homo sapiens and Neanderthals.
What is incredible is that the craftsman who made the adornment, seems to have used something similar to a modern drill.
The Siberian Times
quotes Dr Derevyanko, who wrote in the Russian magazine, Science First
Hand, that when they studied the diameters of the bracelet, they found
that the rotational speed of the drill must have been quite high, and
with minimal fluctuations.
“The ancient master” he said, “was skilled in techniques previously
considered not characteristic for the Palaeolithic era, such as easel
speed drilling, boring tool type rasp, grinding and polishing with a
leather and skins of varying degrees of tanning.”

Drilling marks on Denisovan bracelet

Anatoly Derevyanko and Mikhail Shunkov, Vera Salnitskaya

Held in place by what they believe was a leather strap, the bracelet
itself was made from a type of stone called chlorite, which could only
have been imported from some 200km (125 miles) away.
The bracelet was very delicate and was probably worn at special
occasions by some important person, such as a Denisovan princess.

Shunk explains;

“All jewellery had a magical meaning for ancient people. Bracelets
and neck adornments were to protect people from evil spirits, for
instance.”
“But this item, given the complicated technology and “imported”
material, obviously belonged to some high ranking person of that
society.”
Commenting on its beauty, Anatoly Derevyanko added;
“The bracelet is stunning. In bright sunlight it reflects the sun rays, at night by the fire it casts a deep shade of green.”
The archeologists are reported to have also found a ring made of marble, but they have not yet disclosed any findings about it.
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